sneakers

Nike Introduces The Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit

Leaked photos of a new Air Force 1 featuring Flyknit tooling first started doing the rounds on sneaker blogs towards the end of 2015, but it wasn't until the new design was shipped to retailers this year that better photos properly showcased the all-new remake of the quintessential Uptown. Nike has kept mum about the overhaul during all this time, but today they have officially announced the new Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit to the world, a sneaker that weighs half of what the original bulky Air Force 1 does while still retaining everything that makes the icon — well — iconic. Tasked with the job of creating a lighter AF1 that also decreases that ungodly toe vamp creasing that Uptown fans know too well, the idea the designers came up with was to maintain the integrity of the original design while given the shoe the added comfort on the modern Roshe One.

The most recognisable difference on first glance will definitely be the new streamlined, micro-engineered Flyknit upper, but its the sole unit that really impresses us, a true showcase of Nike's perfected formula of old-meets-new that we've seen executed time and again here at SF. While still retaining the original AF1 outsole design that focuses on its two pivot points, the mad scientists at Nike have remade the sole unit with injected rubber tooling instead of the traditional polyurethane tooling that removes unnecessary material between the concentric grooves. finally, the 52 stars and AIR lettering is still present on the Ultra Flyknit version's outsole, a nod to the original's classic design that made it such a classic off the basketball court.

For more information about Nike's newest chapter in the Air Force 1 story head to their interactive lookbook here, and keep an eye out on Nike.com and selected NSW retailers when they will finally be released on the 28th of January.